1. Field of the invention
This invention relates, generally, to lottery games. More particularly, it relates to an electronic gaming device that simulates a mechanical lottery gaming device.
2. Description of the prior art
Many state-sponsored lottery games employ a mechanical device that selects numbers randomly by mixing numbered balls in an upwardly flowing airstream in a cylindrical chamber and selecting, as the winning numbers, the numbers on the balls that escape the chamber. Typically, the balls are ping pong balls, and they are selected when they become lodged in a narrow neck at the top of the chamber when they try to escape the chamber by riding the upwardly flowing airstream.
The airstream does a good job of mechanically mixing the balls, and the sounds of the balls mixing and finally popping into the narrow neck as they try to escape from the chamber are pleasant sounds which draw the attention of the viewer. Most importantly, everyone playing the particular lottery game that uses the air-mixed balls is satisfied that the results of the game are truly random in nature.
The machines are generally used by state governments and the games played with the machines are usually televised. Thus, few people actually use such machines. Gambling establishments rarely use such machines because they are too noisy for the typical establishment, too mechanically complicated, and thus too expensive to purchase and maintain.
Thus, there is a need for a quieter, less mechanically complicated, and less expensive version of the machine. However, when the art was considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that the provision of such a device was desirable and therefore it could not have been obvious as to how such a desirable objective could be achieved.